Norwegian Heritage Center - Livsreise

07/02/2025

Attention-All Stoughton Fair goers and attendees for the Cat Fish River Music festival this weekend.
Livsreise, the Norwegian Heritage Cent will be open Thursday, July 3 and Saturday, July 5. Our hours are 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM both days. Come into our air conditioned environment to cool off and stay to visit the galleries or even watch one of the 25 videos that pertain to Norwegian immigration and life as a settler on Wisconsin's prairies. We hope to see you soon!!

06/25/2025

An afternoon double speaker event is coming in July!
Livsreise is excited to offer a weekday event in the Livsreise auditorium on Tuesday, July 22. Two speakers from Norway will be featured.
Anne Kari Salbu, co-owner of Sylvsmidja, will speak from 1-2:00 PM. Sylvsmidja is the largest jewelry brand in Norway. It proudly makes traditional heritage silver jewelry for Norwegian national costumes by combining history and unmatched craftsmanship. In addition they offer silver made for every occasion. Anne Kari will recount the story of the company, going back to its beginnings during the occupation of Norway during WWII until the present day. In addition, she will share the stories of the hidden symbols in many brooches and pendants.
Join her colleague, Anders Fagerthun at the Nordic Nook gift shop 1.5 blocks to the east of Livsreise after the presentation, where he will be giving evaluations of any sølje you may own. Advance reservations are required for this consultation and are being taken at the Nordic Nook. ph. 608-877-0848.

At 3:30 PM Livsreise welcomes back Ramus Sunde, Ph.D. He is an expert on Norwegian emigration and author of several books on the subject. He has titled his presentation “The 200th Anniversary of Norwegian Immigration 2025. ” The focus of his talk will be on what factors caused the group of fifty-two Quakers living on the west coast of Norway to leave for America aboard the sloop Restauration. It was a dramatic crossing in this small, one-masted sloop and filled with challenges all along the way. This included four years in their first settlement in Kendall, NY. This land had been purchased by the American Quakers, and they had chosen Cleng Peerson, a sort of explorer and pioneer for the group, to find some available land for settlement. The land chosen was heavily wooded and once cleared the soil was not suitable for farming. After four years of struggling to survive, they decided to move west to LaSalle Co., Illinois, where Cleng had found land that was more appropriate for homesteading and farming. This came to be know as the "Fox River Settlement" and its occupants as the "Sloopers" because they crossed the Atlantic on a sloop.
Plan on coming to hear both speakers!

06/20/2025

"San Hans Dag" in Norway, coming up soon!!
A wonderful family day where people get together to enjoy the bonfire, sunshine and light, fun and games, good food, drinks and music.

In Norway, "San Hans Dag," also known as "Sankthansaften" or "Jonsok," is a midsummer celebration primarily observed on the evening of June 23rd. It's a time for bonfires, often with large, scenic displays along the coast, and festivities like barbecues, games, and dancing. While not a national holiday, many Norwegians participate in these traditions, which have roots in both pagan and Christian customs.
Bonfires: Huge bonfires are lit to ward off evil spirits and celebrate the sun's life-giving properties.
Food and Drink: Barbecues, traditional foods, and drinks are common.
Festivities: People gather for games, dancing, and singing, often staying up late to enjoy the festivities.
Historical significance:
Pagan origins: The bonfires have roots in pagan traditions of warding off evil spirits and honoring the sun.
Christian influence: The celebration is also linked to Saint John the Baptist, a Christian figure.
Medicinal herbs: In the past, it was believed that herbs gathered on this night had special healing properties.
(photo courtesy of visit.norway.weebly.com)

06/06/2025

Today is national Donut Day, but if you are a true Norwegian
you are a lover of "Smultringer." Smultringer are traditional Norwegian donuts spiced with cardamom.
I don’t know if it’s the cardamom or their being homemade, but I know they have a taste that brings back memories of Grandma's house. The grandchildren always loved smultringer. They’re especially popular in Norway around Christmas.; hers were a treat at any time of the year and always delicious with a good cup of coffee!!
You’ll roll out the dough until it’s about a 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick and then cut out donut shapes with a donut cutter. The trickiest part of making smultringer is keeping the fat at a stable temperature when frying them, so you get an even golden color. The easiest way to do this is to use a cooking thermometer, so you can monitor the fat and keep it at about 355°F. Then Enjoy!!
(photo courtesy of Scandinaviancookbook.com)

05/29/2025

Mark your calendars for this special event at Livsreise!
June 21, 2025 1:00-2:00 PM CDT in the Livsreise Auditorium

"200th Anniversary of Norwegian Immigration to America"
As people of Norwegian descent across North America and Norway continue to celebrate 2025 as the bicentennial of the first organized immigration, Livsreise is pleased to have David Johnson, Historian of the Slooper Society of America as well as Board President of the Norsk Museum in La Salle Co., Illinois speak about the settlement now known as Norway, Illinois.

David will speak about this long journey, first across the Atlantic and then four years later from Kendell, N.Y. to the Fox River Settlement and the Sloopers early years in America. We hope you can join us!
(Norsk Museum photo courtesy of the Slooper Society)

05/17/2025

The Norwegian bunad.
The bunad is the traditional folk costume of Norway, often worn for special occasions and festivals. Based in historic folk dress tradition of Norway, the bunad has evolved over time and geography to become a regionalized and stylized costume.
The bunad movement has its root in 19th-century national romanticism, which included an interest for traditional folk costumes not only in Norway, but also in neighbouring countries such as Denmark and notably Germany. However, in Norway, national romanticist ideas had a more lasting impact, as seen in the use of folk-inspired costumes.
The creators of women’s bunads were almost always women, who spent hours, months and years of their lives to create a garment that best represented their region, their forbears and the sewers who poured their ingenuity and skills into this wearable art. Researching and designing reconstructed garments was generally unpaid labor and the researchers often paid out of pocket to move the project forward. Men’s bunads were developed in the 20th century with both men and women driving the designs.
Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) and Klara Semb (1884–1970) are cited as pioneers in bringing bunads into mainstream culture. With Garborg's publication of the pamphlet Norsk Klædebunad in 1903, the focus moved from the creation of a single national costume to the development of several regional bunads. Although bunads are based on traditions in various areas, these designs are embellished by additions such as embroidery. The overarching sense of bunad design is to preserve the way people dressed for festive occasions in one particular era. This has led local and national councils to impose official constraints on various details in the bunad, including colors, fabric, embroidery, jewellery, cut, and allowable headwear.
(To be continued) ( photo courtesy of visitnorway.com)

05/16/2025

Constitution Day is the national day of Norway and is an official public holiday observed on 17 May each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to as Syttende Mai, Nasjonaldagen, or Grunnlovsdagen, although the latter is less frequent.

Brazil has its carnival, and Ireland has Saint Patrick’s Day. But what does Norway have? On the 17th of May, they celebrate the signing of the constitution in 1814. In Norway, Constitution Day is huge – all over the country.

In 2021, over 4 million people in the United States claimed Norwegian ancestry. This is a significant number, considering Norway itself has a population of around 5.3 million. While it's difficult to provide an exact number of communities, many towns and cities across the US, particularly in the Midwest and on the West Coast, celebrate Syttende Mai, Norway's Constitution Day. Notable celebrations include those in Decorah, Iowa, Spring Grove, Minnesota, Stoughton, Wisconsin, Poulsbo, Washington, and Ballard, Seattle. Other communities also hold smaller celebrations, often on the closest weekend to May 17th.

While many countries celebrate their national day with a military parade, Norway’s 17th of May is a party for everyone, especially children. Before heading out to the parades and festivities, many like to get together to share a huge breakfast – often a pot luck with friends, family, and neighbours – with freshly baked bread, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, and other treats. If you are coming to Stoughton this weekend to join in the celebration we say Velkommen:!!

05/14/2025

We're ready!!
The Syttende Mai Festival in Stoughton, WI is just 2 days away?
Here is a visual sample of what you can see here at the Norwegian Heritage Center.
All this plus the smiling faces of our staff and Volunteers. See you this weekend!!i

05/08/2025

It's Livsreise's 10th Anniversary!!

You are invited to join in the Syttende Mai celebration coming up next week!

Looking back on the last ten years of sharing the story of Norwegian immigration with you has been an honor. Hearing the stories of your family's journey to America has a delight! But Livsreise is just getting started and invites you to make a return visit or a first time one if you have been putting off a trip to Stoughton and a visit to the Norwegian Heritage Center.

There is a new exhibit in our small gallery titled "200 Years of Norwegian in America" in honor of the first organized immigrant crossing on the sloop Restauration in 1825.

Visit during the annual Syttende Mai celebration May 16-18, or avoid the crowds and come anytime Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM. (Closed for lunch from noon to 12:30.) Admission is free and so is near by parking. After your visit, browse in one of Stoughton's unique shops just a short walk from Livsreise.

See you soon!

04/18/2025

It's only 4 weeks away! Stoughton's Syttende Mai celebration
May 16-18, 2025
Besides celebrating Norway's Constitution Day as Stoughton does each year on the weekend closest to May 17 Norwegians and Norwegian-Americans are celebrating 2025 as the bicentennial of the first organized immigration of Norwegians to North America.
So pull your bunad out of the closet, try it on (to be sure you can fit into it,), iron your linen bunad shirt, have all your Sølje jewelry polished along with your bunad shoes. Find that beautiful silk scarf you bought at the husflid on your last trip to the Norway, plan on having a raincoat near by, just in case it dare rain on the celebration and you're all set to come to Stoughton to celebrate!
Be sure that Livsreise-the Norwegian Heritage Center is on your list of things to see.
A new exhibit titled "200 Years of Norwegians in America" curated by the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum of Decorah, Iowa is something you don't want to miss!
For more details visit the festival website

Families love Stoughton, Wisconsin’s Norwegian Syttende Mai festival. Enjoy dancing, parades, art, food and craft beer. Click for dates this May.

03/13/2025

Springtime in Norway
Nature awakens! From March to May, the days get longer and the weather gets warmer all over the country. Melting snow creates natural waterfalls everywhere, flowers bloom and smiles are getting wider – making spring in Norway a remarkable experience.
Spring usually arrives earlier in Southern Norway than the rest of the country, usually sometime in April. It is easy to know when spring is coming: the days get a little warmer and grow lighter day by day. Spring flowers appear, the trees begin to bud, birds start to build their nests, and farmers help deliver newborn lambs.

In early spring, the coastal areas of Fjord Norway typically have the highest temperatures. However, in May, the warmest weather is often found in the southern part of Eastern Norway and Southern Norway.

Above the Arctic Circle in Northern Norway, you may not experience true spring until late May or early June, but by then the long and bright summer days have already started, giving you more hours of daylight.

Just as spring arrives later in the north than in the rest of the country, it also arrives at the coast and in the lowlands long before creeping up into the mountains. When you travel in the mountains, the changes in altitude mean that you can also see the scenery change from winter to spring and from spring to winter, in the space of just a few hours. (courtesy of visitnorway.com)

02/19/2025

Announcing a new exhibit!

The ship Restauration set sail for America from Stavanger, Norway on July 4, 1825 with 52 Norwegians aboard. To commemorate this bicentennial, the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa has curated a special exhibition focusing on Norwegian immigration. It features twenty objects that tell important stories and themes for Norwegians in America. Themes include living traditions, migration of skills, the Sami, higher education, sports, citizenship, Native Americans and Norwegian Americans, World War I, and returned immigrants. Each theme tells an important story of travel, settlement, family, and friends, old and new. This exhibit is now open and will be at Livsreise through all of 2025. ( Artist rendering of the sloop Restauration by Sigmuind Aarseth).

Plan your visit today!
Livsreise is located in downtown Stoughton, WI – the birth place of the Coffee Break and home to many Norwegian immigrants from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.